The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom

The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom outlines the process by which enslaved Africans Americans would sneak to freedom in the north during the Civil War. One of the methods the slaves used to communicate without detection was through quilts.

Popular passages

Page 349 - There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; Provided, always, That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service as aforesaid.

Page 325 - That the government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, as in all other cases of compact among parties having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions, as of the mode and measure of redress.

Page 349 - Justice of the executive authority of any state or territory to which such person has fled, and produces a copy of an indictment found, or an affidavit made, before a magistrate of any state or territory, charging the person demanded with having committed treason, felony, or other crime...

Page 343 - The duty of protecting this right in all the common territories throughout their territorial existence, and until they shall be admitted as States into the Union, with or without slavery, as their Constitutions may prescribe. 3. A like recognition of the right of the master to have his slave, who has escaped from one State to another, restored and

Page 355 - ... with such other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional services as may be necessarily performed by him or them, such as attending at the examination, keeping the...

Page 350 - ... given to the executive authority making such demand, or to the agent of such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and to cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. — But if no such agent shall appear within six months from the time of the arrest, the prisoner may be discharged. And all costs or expenses incurred in the apprehending, securing, and transmitting such fugitive to the state or territory making such demand, shall be paid by such state or territory.

Page 352 - United States and the superior courts of the Territories of the United States, from time to time, to increase the number of commissioners, so as to afford a speedy and convenient means for the arrest and examination of persons charged with a violation of this act.